flyapitts

On my first tandem my TI let me fly the canopy all the way to the ground. Of course he had his hands on the toggles too in case I did something wrong. I don't see it as a problem as long as the TI gives good instruction on the ground before you hop in the plane and also gives instruction under canopy at a high altitude. It is true that everyone who goes for a tandem jump has something different in mind, like me, I wanted to see if this was something I wanted to get in to doing all the time. I don't think that a person just going for a ride should flare because that is an added risk for them but if you are jumping to see if you'd like to jump all the time then yeah you should be able to flare and land. It's all part of learning for a student/ potential student but not for someone who just wants bragging rights for jumping from 13,000 feet.

I did my first tandem the other weekend and I wear glasses, They had a pair of over the glasses goggles and didn't have any problems.

I'm an newbie jumper but I'm a highly skilled aerobatic pilot. For us to get low level waivers requires a lot of hours and you have to do maneuvers over and over the exact same. Now think about trying that jumping, keeping your body in the exact position with less than +/- 1 inch, is that possible? Some stunts aren't safe and in no way would the FAA allow them and I'm against publishing illegal jumping, keep it to yourself. I got into jumping because of the freedom of it and putting videos of illegal jumps on the web is grounds for the FAA to step in and put some high regulations on the sport.

I did a tandem jump last weekend to see if I would like to get into skydiving and loved every second of it. I'm now saving every penny I have to get my AFF jumps done. I do have one question, what would be a good canopy for a newbie like myself to get after I complete the AFF?